


Get in Loser, We’re Going Shoping

by fictionbyanyothernamewouldsmellassweet



Series: Icarus vs. The Sun [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Book 1: The Hidden Oracle (Trials of Apollo), Canon Compliant, During Canon, Established Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, a little bit, apollo arrives mid birthday planning, apollo needs to work on his timing, can't you see the campers are sad?, enjoy, i guess, idk if this will be canon for hiffts but it follows the same timeline and uses the same ocs lol, its really just nico talking to will while he freaks about apollo, not cool dude, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:16:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29806923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionbyanyothernamewouldsmellassweet/pseuds/fictionbyanyothernamewouldsmellassweet
Summary: i made this for nicos 89th birthday and forgot to post it, so here it is like 2 months latefollows the same timeline as How Icarus Fell From the Sun, where tho takes place in 2020, so Nico is turning 88, but you can read this on it’s own
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Icarus vs. The Sun [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113404
Kudos: 34





	Get in Loser, We’re Going Shoping

**Author's Note:**

> i made this for nicos 89th birthday and forgot to post it, so here it is like 2 months late
> 
> follows the same timeline as How Icarus Fell From the Sun, where tho takes place in 2020, so Nico is turning 88, but you can read this on it’s own

“Pick you up at 8?”

“Pick me up from where, Solace? My cabin?”

“Of corse, my good sir.” He bowed with a flourish of his hand, the roll of bandages unfurling as he bent, leaving him to scramble to grab them before they hit the floor. 

“Fuck off,” Nico laughed, rolling his eyes. “I’ll see you at 8, dummy.” 

Will shook his head and made a show of rolling his eyes in return, before waving, and moving onto the next patient. 

Nico had been helping out in the infirmary after a particularly nasty game of capture the flag the day before, but once he had reached the fifth dislocated shoulder that needed to be popped back in, he had tapped out. 

It was early, it was a Saturday, there were practically no campers, and Nico wanted to get some more sleep before the days droning activities. Considering the turn his week was about to take, it was lucky that that was exactly what he did. 

***

Hours later, at 8pm, sharp, there was a knock on Nico’s door. 

“Get in, loser.”

Will opened the door making a face that Nico had come to know was him suppressing a laugh. “Are we going shopping?”

The only response he got was an exasperated groan, and a pillow to the face.

“Let’s go, Neeks!” He said, dragging out his vowels. “I want to make it there before Kayla, she takes all the good marshmallows.”

“S’mores aren’t until nine? They’ve always been at nine.” Nico walked over to Will, stretching out his arms, before knocking gently on his head. “You sure you don’t want to get an early sleep? You’ve had a long day.”

Will threw his arm around Nico and began to walk out of his cabin. “Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Nico had to physically restrain himself from getting defensive. He hated it when Will phrased things that way, all mysterious, with no hint of whether what he wanted to say was good or bad. “Okay.”

“It’s just, as we’re all well aware, my birthday was really special.” He pinched Nico’s nose gently, and laughed when he scrunched up his face. “It was nice. And obviously, I can’t make such a grand gesture anymore,” he pulled Nico closer as if his arm around him was evidence, “but, I don’t know. Maybe we could sneak out Tuesday, get lunch, or a movie or something. I could get you a new one of these.” He brushed his thumb over the rainbow jacket patch he had gotten Nico for Christmas.

“Look, Will, I really appreciate it, but we don’t actually have to do anything.”

“I know, Nico, but I want to.”

“It’s just... Solace, I’ve never really done the whole birthday thing. That I can remember, at least. I mean, last year I was... I was...” He trailed off, confused.

Where had he been on his last birthday? Why couldn’t he remember?

He stopped in his tracks. Where the fuck had he been? 

“Nico?” Will said slowly. 

“Tartarus.” He finally said, quietly. “Tartarus. I was in- oh gods I was in Tartarus.” 

“Hey, Neeks,” Will guided him to the small fire pit, “Let’s sit for a second, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Mi dispi- sorry. It’s whatever, I’m- Im fine.”

“It’s okay. You were... you were thinking of the Lethe, weren’t you.” It wasn’t a question, but Nico nodded anyway, catching his breath.

He leaned against Will, closing his eyes for a second. He hated not remembering. That his been his tactic for so long, to forget, to store away, to close down. But once he had stopped he could tell just how painful it would be to start again. 

“It’s okay, di Angelo. New, better memories, remember?” He quoted himself. “Do you want to go back to your cabin? There’ll still be s’mores tomorrow.”

“No, no. Let’s just... stay here. We can wait for everyone else to show up.”

Will nodded, and that was what they did. They sat around the new fire pit, the current number of campers far too small for the amphitheater, until eventually they were joined by Will’s siblings, and the few other campers who had stayed the winter. Three less than the month before, but no one dared mention it. Not even it seemed, when Annie appeared, bright eyed and puffy nosed, with an alarmingly calm Sherman Yang and at her shoulder. If he hadn’t known what he did, he would’ve been confused, but as it was, he only offered Annie a small smile, and cuddled closer to Will to make room for both Mia and Kayla on their bench.

Chiron had not attended in quite some time, busied by many things he didn’t need to say, or reveal. The campers understood. They knew that they had not been able to contact siblings, friends, parents. They knew that something was wrong. And, even worse, they knew that there was nothing they could do about it. 

It was quiet for a moment, before, “Let’s get started, shall we?” Kayla spoke, bright blue puffy jacket engulfing her and her neon hair.

“Let’s.” Will smiled. They threw their weapons; arrows, daggers, swords, the like, around their shoulders, or in the grass, and began to peacefully make and eat their s’mores, ignoring the lingering feeling that something was not right, something more than usual, to the best of their ability. 

Ignoring it, that is, until it came crashing right through the woods, being held up by a 12 year old girl dressed as a traffic light, and fainting almost immediately. 

“Oh, hi! I’m Apollo.”

***

“Jesus Christ.” Will said, for the third time that morning. He paced around Nico’s cabin, his hands in his hair. 

“Will, we don’t even know if it’s true. He could be some crackpot demigod, who has no idea that his real name is Lester.” He shivered.

“But Meg said-“

“Yeah, the 12 year old said that he told her he was a god. But you almost killed him with that nectar. And he’s been passed out for 12 hours!”

“Exactly! He’s completely mortal! He wouldn’t be able to get in here if something wasn’t up.”

They had had this conversation a hundred times, but it never seemed to stick. After a long conversation with Meg, and Chiron, Will hadn’t been able to sleep, so he had stayed with Nico, who was a pro at pulling all nighters, but occasionally went to check on- whoever was lying passed out in the middle of Will’s cabin.

“Okay, so say it is really him. What does that even mean? What do we do?”

Will groaned, and threw himself back down onto Nico’s bed. 

“Can’t you tell? Just do your death magic shit and see how he feels?”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just call it ‘death magic shit’ because you’re in distress right now. I already told you, and Chiron for that matter. He feels mortal. Like death is just... crawling all over him.”

“But it’s happened before right?” His voice came out muffled, his face digging into Nico’s sheets.

“It has, but he’s always still been part god. Like you said, the nectar nearly killed him. I don’t think Zeus would go that far, even after Octavian.”

Will groaned again, and moved so he was lying on Nico’s lap.

“Come on, Will. We won’t know anything until he wakes up.” Nico ran his hands through Will’s knotty hair.

“I know, I know.”

There was a moment of silence before, “You want to go wake him up, don’t you.”

“Yeah.” Will responded with a sigh.

“Well, go then, stupid. Chiron will be waking up now anyway.”

“Tell him for me? And save me a seat at breakfast, will you?” Will said, blue eyes wide.

“You’re so manipulative, you know that?”

“Aww, Neeks!” Will frowned, and Nico kissed him, briefly, before handing him is jacket, and proactively shoving him out of the door. 

“Will?” Nico said, once they had pushed through the small crowd of people outside cabin 7.

“Yeah?”

“Good luck.”

When Nico got to the dining pavilion, he almost ran straight into the young girl, Meg, Will had reminded him. 

“You know,” she said, unprompted, “you’re really very short.”

“Gee, thanks, Meg.” 

She nodded, as if satisfied. “You’re welcome. Hey! Are you dating that girl? With the black hair? She blew bubbles out of her finger when she tried to talk to me as if it would do anything? You guys looked pretty cozy when you were talking about that blonde guy. He was pretty upset. What’s wrong with him?”

“Um, okay.” Nico didn’t know where to start, or how to even respond. “He wasn’t upset, he was confused. Your servant or whatever is claiming to be his dad. And no, I’m not dating Mia, I’m dating the blonde guy.”

She nodded again. “Nice. Where is he?” 

“With- with Apollo.”

“Is he finally waking him up?”

“Yes, but-“

“Thanks!” 

She sped off, her outfit even worse in the light of day. Nico shook his head in disbelief, and found Kayla and Austin. They looked at him, a question in their eyes, and Nico nodded. They sped off too.

Before he found Chiron, he sheathed his sword, just in case this man really was just Lester Papadopoulos, delusional teen. 

***

He finally saw Will, walking up the hill with none other than the apparent god Apollo at his side. When they reached him, the man said, “I remember you. Is it Nicholas, son of Hades?”

Nico sighed. So it really was him. “Nico di Angelo.” Looking him up and down, Nico was slightly concerned. What did it mean for their world if one of their gods was a mortal the same age as his son? And what did it mean if Nico could taste the death surrounding him, as if he was moments away from it?

“So it’s true then. You’re completely mortal. There’s an aura of death around you- a thick possibility of it.”

“Sounds like a weather forecast.” The girl snorted. Nico glared at her. This was not the time. He had been kind, and comforting to Will, when things were unsure, when they were all panicking. But now it was serious. Their lives could be at stake. 

Will walked over and put his hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eyes, a refreshing fact considering Apollo, the great powerful god Apollo, couldn’t even meet them.

“Nico we have to have another talk about your people skills.”

Nico made a face at him. “Hey, I’m just starting the obvious. If this is Apollo, and he dies, we’re all in trouble.” He thought about adding the likeliness of their imminent doom already, considering there was a god standing in front of them, but Will was already glaring at him. 

He turned back to Apollo, hand still on Nico’s shoulder. “I apologize for my boyfriend.”

Nico groaned. We’re they really about to do the whole formal introduction to the parents thing? Naomi had been anxiety inducing enough. There was no time for the formalities. “Could you not-“

“Would you prefer special guy? Or significant other?”

Nico pushed Will’s hand off his shoulder. “Significant annoyance in your case.”

Will grinned and bumped Nico’s shoulder with his own. “Oh, I’ll get you for that. 

The girl- Meg, said “You guys fight a lot. I thought we were seeing a centaur.”

Nico flinched as she spoke, with the realization that Meg reminded him of himself, when he had first come to camp.

“And here I am.” Chiron said, coming out of the house. You could always count on him for an unneeded dramatic entrance. “Apollo, it’s good you are here. We need to talk about the disappearances. 

Will breathed out heavily, and Nico discreetly grabbed his hand. The campers had ignored the disappearances, until the day before, when Miranda had gone missing. They had hoped to pass it off as escapees, visiting family with no warning, running away. But Miranda was a head counselor, and her family was at camp. She wouldn’t have left with no words.

Instead of acknowledging what Chiron had said, however, Meg said, “He- he really is a centaur.”

Again, ignoring the important note Chiron had just given, Apollo answered, “Well spotted. I suppose the lower body of a horse is what gave him away?”

She punched him in the arm, and they continued their conversation like this, until Chiron finally reminded himself that his ability to fit in a magical wheelchair was not important at that moment. 

“Disappearances.” Apollo said. “What has disappeared?”

“Not what, but who.” Chiron answered. “Let’s talk inside. Will, Nico, could you please tell the other campers we’ll gather for dinner in one hour? I’ll give everyone an update then. In the meantime, no one should roam the camp alone. Use the buddy system.”

“Understood.” Will looked at Nico, who silently pleaded with him to not say his new favorite phrase, a repeating occurrence now that the system was in place.

“Will you be my buddy?”

Nico sighed. “You are a dork.”

“Hey!” Will exclaimed as they began to walk further from the great and godly Lester Papadopoulos. “Name one thing about me that’s dorky.”

Nico pretended to think, mostly to get a rise of of Will, whom he knew needed a distraction, before taking out his fingers to count. “Well, let’s see, shall we?”

“Shall we?” Will mocked, with a terrible impression of Nico’s slight accent.

“Dick.” He bumped their shoulders together. “As I was saying, you’ve got your obsession with Star Wars; your obsession with Harry Potter; your obsession with fake queers in Star Wars and Harry Potter; oh and, how dare I forget your obsession with finding strange things to call us.”

Nico looked back up at Will from his fingers to find him grinning maniacally. Nico was glad. 

“C’mon, you’ve seen The Last Jedi! You have to admit they’d be cute.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Whatever Solace.”

Will feigned offense, his hand over his heart, his mouth a scandalized circle. “And to think I was about to add that we were cuter.”

Nico smiled up at him, something he had, begrudgingly, been doing more often.

They were quiet for a moment, and Nico knew what was coming. 

“It’s weird. He- he remembers bits and pieces. He knew my name, and Kayla’s and Austin’s, but Meg said he didn’t know that it was January until Percy told him.”

“I think it might just be weird in general, Solace.”

“Well no shit, Nico.” He slung his arm over Nico’s shoulder as they walked down the strawberry field. “My dad is barely a year older than me. He’s here, at camp. He’s mortal. Hey, at least you’ve met the whole family now.”

“Oh ha, ha. And, really, was the boyfriend thing necessary? I feel like there’s a few more important things going on right now.”

“If I get the chance to show you off, I’m going to!” He shoved his face into Nico’s hair, ruffling it with his nose.

“You’re sure you’re okay though, Will?”

“I’ll be okay. Gotta stay calm for Kayla and Austin. Gotta stay calm so he doesn’t freak out.”

“But you don’t have to be calm with me, Solace. You can freak out all you want. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know, Neeks. I guess we’ll have to postpone your birthday plans.”

“There’s always next year.”

“That there is.”


End file.
